Let's Do This

After two long years, it is finally that time again folks: we are officially "in production" here at the Dark Jester Network. The cameras have new batteries, the tapes have been purchased and I'm just itching to film. Here's a little update on what's going down this month on the production front.

My go-to camera wizard Daniel lives in Austin these days, so we unfortunately will not have him with us to film. That definitely does not mean he won't be involved, however. Daniel is one of the most important minds in this crew. Everything being shot and produced is going to him for review before it ever sees the light of day here.

We're also, unfortunately, short a couple of other members of our team for the time being. Bric Mitchell has recently re-located to his home town of Great Bend, Kansas to partake in some sort of spiritual vision-quest. ...Okay, truth is he left for a bit because he just wasn't very happy in Texas anymore. Bric got offered a job up in his hometown and he really felt the need to go up there and be with his family (not to mention make some decent money). It was honestly one of the hardest moments he and I ever endured together the day he left. He promises to return, however, but when that return will be is, as of yet, undetermined. We miss Bric a lot and can't wait to have him in our presence again soon. As far as production goes, his role for the time being is the same as Daniel's (reviewing the shit before it goes live) but also, he has his hands full with working on the scripts and concepts with me.

Lastly, our back-up camera-monkey Stephanie Whitney (lovingly known around here as "Fastu") is also on a vision-quest of her own. She's currently across the country spending some time with her boyfriend and meeting/getting to know his family before they return to Texas to set up a permanent residence. Stephanie should be back down around December. Stephanie, in addition to filming our dumb asses, is also a great source of unintentional comedy. Some of the stuff we shoot with her ends up great because her reactions are just priceless. We miss her a bunch and can't wait to have her back.

All in all, it would seem like it's pretty much a one-man-show around here these days, but don't you fret. Bric and I wrote a whole slew of bits, plenty of which can be filmed and edited by myself. Also, I may have a few new cast members up my sleeve, but I won't get into that until they're officially attached to something.

We really fell on some hard times around here and it really hurt. Many of you who visit the website have most likely seen the "Donate" button on the menu there, so if you ever feel the need to contribute to our little troupe, don't hesitate to click that button. We lost a lot of our production equipment these past few years and getting back on our feet has been pretty tough. Also, if anyone has extra equipment they'd like to sell or donate, drop me a line either in the comments or on Facebook. We lost our good tripod in a car accident I had awhile back, we're looking for some lighting (work lights and the like), and if anyone has a decent shotgun mic that uses a basic stereo jack (like a pair of headphones) they'd like to sell, we'd be interested in that as well. We can buy all of this stuff new, of course, but it'd be a lot quicker (and cheaper) if we came across some cheap, used gear. The quicker we get our gear back in check, the quicker these videos will return. Not trying to lay a sob-story on you guys. Believe me, with your help or not: we will be making new videos, but if you'd like to contribute we'll be really grateful.

Alright guys, that about covers it. In the next few weeks I'll be filming just to get back in the swing of things. I'll keep everyone posted on what I'm doing as I'm doing it and be sure to follow the Twitter! Later days.